


Descent of the Black Swan

by Kourumi



Category: The Outer Worlds (Video Game)
Genre: Aquaphobia, Canon-Typical Violence, Multi, Not Beta Read, my captain is an animal magnet
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-26
Updated: 2021-01-20
Packaged: 2021-03-08 04:55:14
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 804
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26660062
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kourumi/pseuds/Kourumi
Summary: "A black swan is an unpredictable event that is beyond what is normally expected of a situation and has potentially severe consequences. Black swan events are characterized by their extreme rarity, severe impact, and the widespread insistence they were obvious in hindsight."
Comments: 2
Kudos: 9





	1. it's a lovely morning in edgewater, and you are a horrible swan

**Author's Note:**

> cross posted from my deviantart account. establishing some story choices for my bad taste babe, before i go off the rails.  
> updates depend on whenever inspiration behaves

Odessa Olivier wasn't a bad person, at least she didn't think she was in the grand scheme of things. Odie was, however, a tired person. A very, very tired person who found herself being woken up from the most sleep she ever had in her adult life by some old fart and told it was now her job to save the galaxy?

No, fuck that. 

She was done with thankless, impossible work. 

Sure, she was grateful to not turn into goo upon re-awakening, but gratitude did not equal servitude and Odie determined that she wasn't going to help the old man out. The gravedigger, ah... junior inhumer, told her that the Hope had faded into nothing more than a myth. Who out here was really going to hold her to a ridiculous contract from a place that no longer existed? 

The wildlife was really something though.   
Odie had encountered a bunch of ugly, purple gorillas on the way to town. They smelled atrocious and warbled at her for food. At first, she wasn't inclined to share her meager amount of supplies, but Law, there was no way she was eating those nasty looking bananas. When the gorillas ripped apart a bandit who charged at her, well, that was a worthy trade after all. 

  
  
Later, Odie nearly gave Parvati a heart attack when she rushed arms open towards the prettiest colored dogs she had ever seen.  
The fact that they were munching a corpse, only partially registered in Odie's mind. The first conflict in her new friendship was Parvati's nervous, but polite, request to put the canids now happily hoisted into her arms, down. Parvati had a good point that other people would be inclined to shoot first, and not listen to a lady carting around vicious wild animals like babies.

Odie reluctantly agreed that was wise. 

Settling affairs for the warring factions of Emerald Vale was not high on the list "things she wanted to do" in this new world. 

  
Reed Thompson was a fool of a man, and she had known plenty of fools. None of them had ever had been so sincerely willing to give everything up, to make up for how badly he fucked the entire situation.  
Adelaide, for all her sanctimonious talk, just wanted to inflict pain on workers already suffering too much, and that made Odie angry.  
She hadn't _wanted_ to send the deserters back to the drudgery of illness and working, but she wanted to help Adelaide even less. She stole the notes the woman made on the plague and gave them to Esther.  
  


A threatened word of advice to Reed, to put his promised words of change to action, and Odie left the town behind, two crew members in tow. 


	2. Interlude 1: the sunken swan

  
Parvati and Odie stood on the shore of the small river flowing into a cavern.   
  
It most certainly matched up with the description on the collector's terminal, where he hid his collection for safety.   
The water wasn't _that_ deep, not for an average person. Waist high at worst. Yet Odie couldn't shake her growing dread as the water gently trickled by.   
  
One uneven step could send one face down into the water, a single rock knock a person out and then there would be no escape.   
A heart shake of her stopped that train of thought from sending her into overwhelming panic.   
Odie stomped her foot,  
  
"Who in their Void-damned mind thinks a damp cave is a good hiding place for a book collection?!"

Parvati shrugged,  
  
"Reckon we'll be finding out shortly, ma'am."

The water mocked her, bubbling in fake serenity. Odie bit down on her lip, trying to summon the nerve to enter the stream, but her legs wouldn't budge. After minutes of internal warring, she turned away. 

"Shame about that book. The Vicar will have to find another sucker to do his errands."

Her companion grabbed Odie's shoulder, 

"Wait. Ma'am...!"

"Odie."

"Ma'am..., Odie, why we leaving? All we gotta do is walk in right quick and grab it."

"No. No.... Too much water. Sorry."

"That's a might strange, it's not like it's the ocean we're gonna wade in."

Odie bit her lower lip, unsure of how much she wanted to confess in this strange moment. 

"...I don't * _do_ * well with water.... Or in water! * _It's complicated.*_ "

"What if I helped you? Held your hand while we walk through? I can pull you right up if you fall, and I won't tell no one, * _promise!_ *" 

Odie internally warred over the offer, it wasn't like she had any * _shame_ *, there were far more embarrassing things that she'd done unbothered.  
  
It was about trust. 

But had Parvati done anything yet to cause doubt?   
No, she hadn't, had she...?   
The woman was painfully sincere.

Odie reached out to take the engineers hand and was graced with a lovely smile.  
  



End file.
